Two conservative women’s groups are joining forces to encourage Iowa women to participate in the early selection of the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

Purse Iowa and Voices of Conservative Women will partner to do activities at the straw poll on Aug. 13, and will host a breakfast that morning at the Gateway Inn in Ames.

Iowa residents vote on their favorite Republican candidate at the straw poll, considered an early test of campaign strength and candidate popularity.

Linda Upmeyer, the majority leader in the Iowa House and co-founder of Purse Iowa, said in a statement today: “Having a presence at the Iowa straw poll will allow this partnership to reach out to voters as well as insuring that the focus remains on women voters and the issues that they care about remain in the spotlight.”

Purse Iowa and its political action committee, PursePAC, help female candidates who support fiscal responsibility, limited government and free-market issues to gain office in Iowa at all levels of government.

Upmeyer and Oskaloosa Republican Diane Crookham Johnson, who felt left out during the 2008 cycle when former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the caucuses with an outpouring from social conservatives, launched the group in January 2009. “Purse” stands for People United for Republican Sisters’ Elections.

Voices of Conservative Women, a Minnesota-based group 501(c)4 organization, and its VoicesPAC 527 political fund, also work to elect conservative women.

Jennifer DeJournett, president of Voices of Conservative Women said in the statement: “Women are a key to winning elections, whether you are seeking office at the local level or the office of the presidency.”

She added: “Women voters were the missing puzzle piece in 2010 and they will again be the key to winning races in 2012 at all levels of government.”